3 takeaways from the Canucks’ 5-3 season opening victory

The Vancouver Canucks returned to action last night starting the 2021 NHL season against the Edmonton Oilers. Here are three takeaways from the game.

Vancouver Canucks hockey is back!

The Canucks entered Rogers Place in Edmonton looking to start the season on a high note. Last year, the Oilers and the Canucks split their season series at two apiece with Vancouver outscoring their opponent 13-10. Pitted against Connor McDavid and their Alberta rivals 10 times in 2021, the Canucks knew it wouldn’t be easy to do it again.

A handful of exciting players made their debut for the Canucks last night. Forward Nils Hoglander and defenceman Olli Juolevi as rookies, and goaltender Braden Holtby, and defencemen Nate Schmidt and Travis Hamonic as veterans.

There was certainly a lot going on in this matchup and even more to digest. For the first game of the year, it was a bit of a sloppy start, but other than that, it was a back and forth affair that was fast and very entertaining. Let’s dive into three takeaways from the Canucks 5-3 victory.

Horvat picks up right where he left off

It’s like Bo Horvat never left the bubble.

The Canucks’ captain was right back at it and looking like he’s already in mid-season form. The 25-year-old who scored 10 goals in the 2020 NHL Playoffs opened the scoring for the Canucks from a pretty play off the rush.

Right down Main Street, Horvat walked in all alone off a tape-to-tape feed from winger Tanner Pearson. With time and space, he was able to bring the puck to his forehand before lifting it past Mikko Kostinen and across the goal line. It was much like some of the goals that he scored in the playoffs — a goalscorer’s goal.

Cranking it up a notch in the absence of Miller, Horvat finished the contest with two points (one goal, one assist), four shots on goal, and a plus 1 rating. Talk about making an instant impact.

Boeser’s wrist shot is back

If Brock Boeser‘s rookie wrist shot was ever considered to be lost forever, it sure isn’t anymore. The Canucks’ sniper that scored 29 goals in just 62 games back in 2017-18 showed big signs of a return to his old ways.

What started out to be a fairly quiet night for Vancouver’s first line, ended with a flurry of offence, specifically from No. 6 himself. The Canucks let the Oilers tie the game right out of the third period gate, but after that is when the Canucks regained control.

After Adam Gaudette got the Canucks another lead, a few plays later, a wide-open Boeser received the puck and had the space to take his time and pick a corner to beat Koskinen. It was similar to his famous rookie snipe against Carey Price. Take a look.

He didn’t stop there. The 23-year-old right-winger went right back to work with a goal off the rush. Speeding down the right side, Boeser put everything he had into another wrist shot cleanly beating the Oilers goaltender glove side once again. As Canucks Twitter would put it, “Sniping season is underway.”

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1349590324415369216

Boeser was the best offensive player of the night for either team. He finished the game with two goals, four shots on net and dished out two hits in 17 minutes of ice time. A great start for someone who has faced criticism in the past for not being a consistent goal scorer. It looks like he’s here to finally put that argument to bed.